1
INTEGRATING LOCAL AND FOREIGN CULTURES
IN THE ENGLISH TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS:
A WAY OF MAINTAINING LOCAL CULTURES1
Siti Sudartini2
Email: ssudartini@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The need to participate in the global communication has put English as
one of the most important international languages. Mastering English becomes
one of the most important thing most people want. This has led to the increasing
demand of English language teaching practices. Considering the importance of
mastering English, the Indonesian government has considered English as one of
the most important foreign languages to be taught in schools. It has been taught
from elementary school as local content and even in some parts of this country it
has been taught in kindergartens. On the other hand, it is commonly believed that
the practice of English language teaching will not be well conducted without
teaching the accompanied cultural beliefs and values. Meanwhile those foreign
cultural beliefs and values may not be in line with our local and national cultural
beliefs and values. Therefore, it will be a very great challenge for those who are
actively involved in the practice of English language teaching to take this fact into
their consideration. This particular study has a closer look on this particular
problem and wherever possible proposes an alternative solution to overcome this
problem for the sake of maintaining the nation identity and culture. Therefore, this
study focuses on identifying the foreign cultural believes and values commonly
found in some English textbooks for Junior High Schools used in the English
teaching and learning process and describing one alternative way of teaching
English with its accompanied cultural beliefs and values and at the same time
maintaining the local and national cultural beliefs and values.
Keywords: culture, English teaching, learning process, local culture.
1
Artikel ini telah dipresentasikan dalam The 4th International Graduate Student
Conference in Indonesia yang diselenggarakan leh Sekolah Pascasarjana, UGM pada tanggal 30
dan 31 September 2012.
2
An Educatonal Staff of Faculty of Languages and Arts, Yogyakarta State University.
2
INTRODUCTION
Jandt (2010: 6) states that as we live in an interconnected global economyglobal trade, migration, environtmental sustainability, the challenge facing the
world at the beginning of the 21st century is to seek global solutions. To meet
these challenges will require us to learn how to better communicate with one
another regardless of where we live, of our economic status, and of our identity.
One of the effective ways to get connected with other people in this world is by
using one of the international languages. One of the international language having
an important position in the global communication is English.
In line with the role of English as one of the mostly used international
languages in the world, mastering English becomes an urgent need for most
countries, not to mention this country, Indonesia. Considering the need to
participate in global communication, English has been considered as one of the
most important foreign language to be taught at schools starting from elementary
up to the tertiary education in this country. English has even been considered is
one of the important keys to get success not only in educational field but also in
other fields. It has been used widely as an important language in businesses,
advertisements, entertainments, sports, and many more. It seems that mastering
English becomes every body’s ticket to get success in any field of their lives in
this country or even in every country in this world. Mckay (2002:128) mentions
that one of the primary reasons for learning English today is to access and
contribute to the large amount of information that is available in the language.
Therefore, it is commonly believed that the teaching and learning of
English will not be successfully carried out without teaching its culture. Brown in
Richards and Renandya (2002:12) even mentions that “whenever you teach a
language, you also teach a complex system of cultural customs, values, and ways
of thinking, feeling, and acting”. Since language can be said to be one of the
important factors determining the identity of a nation, it is considered as one part
3
of culture that makes a country different from others. Foley (2001:19) claims that
language is the unseparable sub system of culture. He mentions that:
Language is often treated theoretically as a sub system of culture within
cognitive anthropology but in practice and structure of language as
revealed by modern linguistics has generally served as the paradigm for
analyzing other aspects of culture.
Language, however, can be treated as a cultural activity and, at the same
time, an instrument for organizing other cultural domains (Sharifian & Palmer,
2007:1). Language needs to be seen as integral part of culture. It is through
language, that culture can be expressed. Guirdham ( 2005:46) mentions the
following.
Culture is about ‘shared meanings’. Meanings are produced and exchanged
through language, which is the medium through which we ‘make sense’ of
things. Meanings can only be shared through language. Thus, ‘to say that
two people belong to the same culture is to say that they interpret the world
in roughly the same ways and can express themselves, their thoughts and
feelings about the world, in ways which will be understood by each other’.
As language is one of the cultural representations, learning a language, not
to mention, English, cannot be separated from learning its accompanied culture.
By this statement, it is clearly seen that all English learners need to develop an
awareness that cultural factors do play a role in rhetorical development and that
those texts that conform to their own rhetorical paterns will be easier to process
(Mckay, 2002:128). This concept of cultural awareness is proven to be very
significant and need to be one of the essential part of English learning and
teaching (Tanaka, 2006:37).
As learners may also bring their own culture while learning English, the
approaches to the teaching of English as international language need above all to
be culturally sensitive to the diversity of contexts in which English is taught and
used and in terms of materials, the prevalent use of western cultural content in
ELT texts needs to be examined. The use of source or learners culture content
not only minimizes the potential of marginalizing the values and lived experiences
4
of the learners but also encourage learners to gain a deeper understanding of their
own culture so that they can share these insights when using English with
individuals from other cultures (McKay, 2002).
In line with this, it seems necessary to conduct a study related the topic of
using the local cultural content in the practice of English language teaching. This
particular study focuses on identifying the foreign cultural beliefs and values
commonly found in some English textbooks for Junior High Schools used in the
English teaching and learning process in Indonesia and describing one alternative
way of teaching English with its accompanied cultural beliefs and values and at
the same time maintaining the local and national cultural beliefs and values for the
sake of maintaining nation identity and culture.
CULTURAL CONTENT IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS
This study, in particular, is a critical analysis of two junior high school
English textbooks mostly used in Yogyakarta Special Region. Those books are
Real Time (Erlangga Publishing), and English on Sky (Erlangga Publishing). The
following are the general description and the cultural content found in those
books.
1. Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Sudents
Year VII
The cultural contents are both explicitly and implicitly inserted within the
book. The explicit insertion is done by giving a certain section in every unit called
Cultural Notes aimed at introducing the Western culture. This section is found in
every unit/chapter of the book with various topics, namely: Foreign Culture, Tips
for Studying Abroad, Bedtime Stories, Sport Leagues, Barbeque, Transportation
in America, and Dining Out. Besides this section, there is also a section called Did
You Know, which can be found in some of the units, consisting of additional
explanation on certain Western culture being introduced in that unit/chapter.
5
On the other hand, the implicit insertion is done through the use of figures,
either those used as ilustrations or those function as main figures or input texts for
some of the tasks/ exercises. The illustration figures commonly show the Western
setting (like some places in Western countries), figures of Western peoples, and
some other cultural behaviour commonly done in Western countries. The use of
these can be said as implicit insertion of Western culture since those items are not
in particular discussing the Western culture. Their main function is to give
illustration of some other parts of the book. Take for example, on page 8, there is
a text talking about family members and there is an illustration of a family foto
showing an example of a Western family.
Figure 1. My Family (taken from Nina Bates. 2007, 8)
Some figures also used as the main input texts of this book. Most of those
figures show Western culture. By using those figures, it seems like readers
(learners) are supposed to think that the Western culture is better than their own
culture. The folowing are some examples of figures used as the input texts that
show Western culture superiority.
6
Figure 2. Movies (Taken from Nina Bates. 2007, 59)
Figure 3. Public Places (Taken from Nina Bates. 2007, 100)
Figure 4: Food (Taken from Nina Bates. 2007, 109)
7
By looking at those two figures, the learners may think that Western food
is better than their own food and that those public places are better palces than
those found in their own country. Even that Western movies are better than the
local movies. There are also some figures showing Western patern of behaviour
that may not be in line our cultural values and norms. The examples can be found
on page 34 and 115.
Figure 5. Classroom Activities (Taken from Nina Bates. 2007, 34)
This figure show a classroom setting when a teacher is explaining something and
one of the students wants to ask a question by raising her left hand. This cultural
behaviour may not be accepted in Indonesian culture since Indonesian students
tend to use their right hand whenever they want to ask a question.
Figure 6. Ordering Take Out Food (taken from Nina Bates.2007, 115)
8
Similarly figure 6 shows a boy who receives the return money by using his left
hand. This cultural behavior also may not be in line with Indoensian cultural
behavior. Looking at these figures, teachers need to be aware of this different
cultural behaviours and wherever possible give explanation to their students.
2. English on Sky 1 for Junior High School Year VII
Similar with the first book, this book also contains Western cultural values
and behaviour. The main different of this book compared to the first one is on the
way the cultural conten inserted in the content. Unlike the first book, most of the
cultural content are implicitly inserted in this book through texts and figures
(either those used as the main input or illustration). Some cultural behaviour
found in this books are in terms of addressing system, time, schools activities,
foods, and some other related cultural behaviours. This book not only contain
Western cultural values and behaviour, it also covers some Indonesian cultural
behaviours although there is a different proportion the use of these two cultures.
The figures as well as texts used in this book show the Western superiority over
Indonesian. Take for example, what can be found in an activity on page 86. This
activity is called Talking about Job. The input text for this activity is a set of
figures showing people’ occupation. This figures give an illustration of some
occupation. Most of the models in this set of figures are Western people except
those showing the occupations of a farmer and a policeman.
9
Figure7. Talking About Jobs (Taken from Mukarto, et al., 2007, 86).
Above al, these two books are merely some examples of those used in the
practice of English teaching and learning in the classroom. Looking through these
two books, the need to introduce Indonesian cultural values and norms in the
English textbooks is unavoidable. English teachers need to have an additional as
well as alternative source materials to conduct their teaching while keep
maintaining their cultural awareness towards the insertion of Werstern cultural
values and patterns of behaviours commonly found in the English textbooks.
10
INTEGRATING
PRACTICES
LOCAL
AND
FOREIGN
CULTURE
IN
ELT
The fact that the foreign cultural values and behaviours, that is, the
Western cultural values and behaviours are commonly found in English
textbooks, needs to be anticipated by those involved in the practice of teaching
and learning the language. English needs to be seen as an international language, a
means of communicating among people in the world. It doesn’t belong to certain
country, and it can cover cultural contents which are not specific to that country.
Indeed, it will be much beneficial to integrate local as well as foreign culture, that
is, the source culture as well as the learners culture in the practice of teaching and
learning the language.
Consequently, textbook-writers need to consider this fact and wherever
possible try to integrate both the Western aand the Indonesian culture in their
textbooks. The government has provided opportunities for English scholars to
develop English textboks either for Junior High Schools, Senior High Schools as
well as for Vocational Schools, through conducting a program aimed at providing
cheap textbooks called BSE (Buku Sekolah Elektronik). This is a very good step
not only to provide cheap resources for students but also to give opportunities for
scholars to develop resources that hopefully will fit the students need as well as
maintaining the nation identity, by means of integrating both the foreign and
Indonesian cultural values and patterns of behaviours as well as cultural
representations. A brief look at some of the English BSE books for Junior High
Schools, has shown that these books, in general, present not only foreign culture
but also Indonesian cultural values, patterns of behaviour, as well as some cultural
representations.
The following are some cultural contents found in one of the BSE books
for Junior High School, entitles English in Focus 1; for Grade VII Junior High
School written by Wardiman et.al. in 2008.
11
Figure 8. Meeting Someone for the First Time (Taken from Wardiman, A.,
Jahur, M.B., dan Djusma, M.S, et al., 2008, 1).
By using the picture, the writers implicitly introduce of Indonesian
patterns of behaviours, related to the activity that Indonesian students commonly
do when they meet their new friend. It is clearly seen that the writers want to show
the Indonesian setting through the use of Indonesian model and also the way they
perform, that is, showing the two junior high schools wearing their school
uniform.
Figure 9. My Family (Taken from Wardiman, A., Jahur, M.B., dan Djusma,
M.S, et al., 2008, 83).
12
Similarly, this picture also implicitly shows the Indonesian setting through the use
of Indonesian models and dressing style as it is used to give an illustraton on topic
my family.
These pictures present examples of integrating foreign and Indonesian
culture in the practice of English Language teaching, that is through inserting
local/ national cultural values and patterns of behaviours in English textbooks.
This could be a agood initial step in integrating foreign and local, that is,
Indonesian cultures in the practice of English language teaching. In turn, this may
be a good solution to maintain the nation identity. Our students may learn foreign
cultural values and pattern of behaviours but they need also to understand their
own cultural values and patterns of behaviours
Unfortunately, not all of the schools and English teachers use the BSE
books. Some of them consider these kinds of books not interesting since most of
the BSE books are not presented as interesting as other books published by private
publishers. Some other teachers said that most of the BSE books are not written
by native speakers of English that they consider them having lower quality
compared to those published by private company. Therefore, this could an
additional task for the government and those concern with providing resources for
our students to improve the quality of BSE books. Besides, it will be also a big
challenge to those interested in developing English learning resources and
concerned with the idea of maintaining the nation identity in the ELT practices to
develop English textbooks which could meet the learners’ need that is to learn the
language together with its related culture and at the same time, maintain the
learners’ understanding towards their own culture.
Therefore, it seems necessary to change the common view of English as
the ‘foreign language’ but it must be considered as an ‘International language’
that no longer belongs only to a particular country. Thus, whenever someone
learns English it doesn’t mean that he needs to learn all aspects of that culture,
internalize it and even forget his or her own culture.
13
CONCLUSION
In summary, learning language will be considered effective when it
accompanied by learning its culture, not to mention English. It is therefore, will be
a very great challenge for those involved in the practice of English languagge
teaching in terms of cultural contents owing to the facts that Western cultural
values and patterns of behaviours may not be in line with Indonesian. This
particular study has found some examples of Western cultural values and patterns
of behaviors which may not be applicable in Indonesian context. This also
provides examples of the insertion of Indonesian cultural values and pattern of
behaviours in English textbooks. It is clearly seen that this insertion does not
reduce the content of the books.
Consequently, it will be a great challenge to undergo similar steps as one
of the initial steps in integrating foreign and Indonesian cultures in the practice of
English language teaching. This will be an important step to maintain the nation
identity. Therefore, I do agree with an idea saying that we need to think globally
but act locally (McKay, 2002). This idea needs to be the one of the underlying
principles in teaching English in our beloved country.
14
REFERENCES
Bates, Nina. 2007. Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High
School Students Year VII. Jakarta: Erlangga.
Mukarto, et al. 2007. English on Sky 1 for Junior High School Year VII. Jakarta:
Erlangga.
Foley, W. A. 2001. Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers Inc.
Guirdham, Maureen. 2005. Communicating Across Cultures at Work Second
Edition. New York: Palgrave. Macmillan.
Jandt, Fred E.2010. An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in
a Global Community. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publication, Inc.
McKay, Sandra Lee. 2002. Teaching English as an International Language. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Richards, J. C. and Renandya, W. (eds). 2002. Methodology in Language
Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Sharifian, F. & Palmer, G. B. 2007. Applied Cultural Linguistics Implications for
Second Language Learning and Intercultural Communication.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Tanaka, S. 2006. “English and Multiculturalism—from the Language User’s
Perspective “, in RELC Journal, Singapore (2006; 37), 47.
Wardiman, A., et al. 2008. English in Focus 1: for Grade VII Junior High School.
Jakarta: Pusat Perbukuan, Depdiknas.
15
ABOUT THE WRITER
Siti Sudartini, born in Yogyakarta on March 11th, 1976. Graduating the S1
degree at English Education from Yogyakarta State University. Teaching at
English Education Department of Yogyakarta State University from January
2005. Having the Master Degree of Linguistics Study Program of UGM
Yogyakarta in 2009. Actively joining some seminars and writing journals related
to education, particularly the teaching of English as Foreign Language in
Indonesia. Email address:
ssudartini@yahoo.com.
Contact Number:
08156877141.